The Clara Chapter
by GraceJones13
Summary: Clara Collins is a fifth grader at Beecher Prep Middle School. She does her best to help August Pullman make the transition from homeschool to public school, just as she had to do the year before. Will Julian destroy Clara's efforts and alienate Auggie? Replaced third chapter!
1. Flirting?

**Clara**

One summer morning, my mother decided it would be a good time to talk to me. The words that came out of her mouth changed my life. "There will be a new kid at school this year."

I barely looked up from my book, _Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox,_ and my cheese bagel. "So?" I asked, not really caring that it sounded a bit rude, "There's always new kids."

My mom sighed, "The kid, August Pullman, was born a bit different than everyone else."

"How different?" I asked, because 'born a bit different' covered a wide range of possibilities.

"His face is, um, a bit," I had known my mom long enough to know that she was searching for a nice way of saying whatever she was searching for.

"Mom," I said, getting a bit impatient, "Please just say it."

"Deformed," She finished.

"What does it have to do with me?" I couldn't be bothered to find a nicer way to ask.

"Mr. Tushman wants four kids to give him a tour of the school. He specifically asked for you." I immediately understood what she was saying. I was homeschooled until fourth grade, last year, when I finally went to public school, Beecher Prep School. I knew a bit about being stared at, but it had to be much worse when your face was deformed.

On my sixth birthday, I fell off a wall. I broke my arm and had to get surgery. It left a scar on my left arm that was supposed to fade over time. The first week at school, I got quite a few stares. I think after that week, everyone got used to it.

"Who else is giving the tour?" If the other kids were nice, I would go as well. But then again, if the other kids were mean, I would also go. August's first impression of public school shouldn't be of the mean kids.

"Julian Albans, Charlotte Cody, and Jack Will." That decided it; I had to go. Julian was the worst sort of kid; polite to adults, but a terror to kids. Charlotte was nice, but liked talking about herself. Jack was in my friends circle, one of the first kids to be nice to me when I first went to school, but he was a bit on the quiet side. He wouldn't stand up to Julian when 'accidently' did something. That left me.

"Okay," I said. I could tell my mom was surprised by my answer. She was probably expecting more to convince me. "When is it?"

"Tomorrow." _Well then,_ I thought _some advance notice would have been nice._

XxXxXxX

Who goes to school in the summer? Even if it is just to give a tour? The next day I was at school at 8:00 am. I saw Jack and his mom pull up in the parking lot as my mom and I walked toward the school.

"Hi Jack!" I called, waving.

He waved back and made his way over to me, "Hey Clara." He said when he got close enough.

"So," He whispered in my ear, "Have you seen what this kid looks like?"

I slapped his arm lightly, "Don't be rude!" I whisper-yelled back.

"Is that a new shirt?" He asked. The shirt in question was a dark gray shirt that said 'Sparkle' in big letters. My normal style was mid-calf jeans with a plain T-shirt. I didn't realize that boys noticed that kind of thing. I thought only girls noticed.

"Yep," I said in my normal sarcastic way, "How did you guess?" By that time we had walked into the school. We saw Julian and Charlotte outside of Mr. Tushman's office.

My mom kissed my forehead and left. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Jack's mom kissed Jack's cheek. He made a disgusted face at me. I smiled and stuck my tongue out at him.

"Are you two done flirting yet?" Charlotte asked.

I choked on air, "Excuse me?" I manage to cough out, "Flirting?" I had long since decided that ten was _way_ too young to date, or even flirt. Charlotte just smiled. I started planning to get her back. It was obvious that Julian liked her, but she either didn't notice or didn't like him back. I guessed the second one.

I smiled, finding a way to get back at her for a few moments, "How are you and Julian?" I asked.

It was her turn to choke. Julian turned bright red while Jack and I just laughed.

Mr. Tushman walked out of his office. We all scrambled to rearrange our expressions. "Please," He said, "Come in and meet Auggie."

XxXxXxX

 **Please review!**

 **I don't own Wonder**


	2. The Tour

**Clara**

The four of us walked in Mr. Tushman's room, uncertain of what to expect. We saw a normal-looking boy with his back towards us and a blond woman who appeared to be his mother.

"Auggie," His mother said, "Say hello."

The boy turned around, "Hello." He said. His face was not pretty, but it really wasn't that bad. I instantly stuck my hand out.

"Clara," I said. He looked uneasy, but shook my hand anyway. None of the three kids had offered any sort of greeting. I could get old waiting for them, so I introduced them. "This is Julian, Charlotte, and Jack Will." I gestured to them in turn.

Jack waved a bit uncertainly and said, "Hi!"

Charlotte also gave August a greeting, "Hello." When Julian said nothing, Charlotte elbowed him.

"Hi." Julian said without enthusiasm.

"Okay!" Mr. Tushman said, "Why don't you kids give August a tour?"

Mrs. Pullman whispered something in August's ear. He walked over to us.

"So," I asked, "Where to first?" I inwardly cringed at my grammar, but I didn't think that anyone else noticed.

.

.

We started at homeroom, which was the closest to Mr. Tushman's room. "This is the homeroom." I told August. He didn't say anything, so I felt a bit awkward.

"This is an eraser," Julian said, as though August was an idiot.

"Julian!" I scolded, "He's homeschooled, not an idiot," I said, then, under my breath, "unlike some people." The only person close enough to hear was August. He gave a tentative smile.

"Do you prefer August or Auggie?" I asked him, hoping to get a response this time.

"Most people call me Auggie." He said in a quiet voice. I liked Auggie. He was a polite kid, even when he was a bit scared about a new school.

"Do you play any sports?" I asked him. Once the words came out, I realized what I said. Sports involve other kids, and, if I were him, I would probably want to stay away from other kids. "Sorry," I said as quickly as I could, "I forgot." He didn't seem like he believed me, but he nodded anyway.

Charlotte started talking about herself. I don't think anyone was listening.

"Any questions?" I asked Auggie.

"Um, yeah," He turned to Jack, "Is your name Jack or Jack Will?"

Jack laughed, but not in a mean way, "It's just Jack. Will is my last name. People call me by both because there's another Jack, Jack Won't."

Auggie laughed. Julian laughed as well, but it was more of a 'laughing at you' laugh. "You thought his name was Jackwill?" Julian asked.

"Yes," Auggie answered simply.

"What's your favorite subject?" I asked Auggie. I knew I was asking a lot of questions, but it seemed better for me to ask questions then for Julian to ask them.

"I like science," Auggie said. I wondered if Auggie was naturally shy or if his life had made him shy. Maybe if he was born normal-looking, he would be more outgoing. Then again, maybe not. That was my random thought of the day. Most days, I have a random thought. Sometimes I think out loud and get strange looks. I stopped thinking and started paying attention to the world around me.

"The science elective is suposably really hard." Julian said. I inwardly cursed. If I had been paying attention, I could have said something before Julian. "You have to be really smart to pass the class." Julian said.

I finally snapped, "Julian Albans!" I yelled, "Just because people are different than you, doesn't give you the right to be a jerk! Homeschoolers, unlike certain people, are smart and know how the world works. No matter what you think, you are not better than the rest of the world!" Once the words were out of my mouth, I covered my mouth with my hand, shocked.

The other four stared at me. Auggie didn't know me very well, but I had spent a year with the other three. In that time, I had never snapped at anyone.

Awkward silence followed. Julian and I looked at each other, then looked down and muttered, "Sorry," at the same time.

"I think that concludes the tour," Charlotte said, taking charge.

"It was nice to meet you Auggie," Jack said, "See you at school!"

All in all, that was a terrible tour. Auggie was stuck in the middle of me and Julian. We weren't exactly friend before the tour, but I tried to be polite. Now, my true thoughts about Julian were brought to the surface. That day started our rivalry.

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 **Can someone tell me how to make a border line? These dots look weird**


	3. Family Input

**I made a terrible third chapter, but this one replaces it**

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 **Clara**

Why is Julian such a jerk? Is he that insecure that he has to insult other people to make himself feel better? These were the types of questions I thought about on the drive home from school after the tour.

"How was it?" My mom asked me, "Did you make August feel at home?"

I sighed, "I tried mom; I really tried. But something messed that up; two words, can you guess them?"

I had told my mom about most of the people at school that I came in contact with, so it wasn't very surprising when she said, "Julian Albans?"

"Yep," I said in an exasperated tone, which wasn't fair to my mom, "The whole time he was like 'Oh, because you're homeschooled, you're an idiot and don't know anything'. Not that he actually said that, but that's what all his words meant."

"I'm sorry," Mom said, swerving to avoid a badly parked car, "How were Jack and Charlotte?"

I played with my seatbelt, probably not the safest thing to do in a car moving at about 60 miles per hour with cars passing on the other side with approximately a foot of space in between the cars, "Charlotte talked about herself, as always, but it helped to keep Auggie distracted from Julian's comments. Jack was his usual quiet self, too shy to stand up to Julian. I'll call him later and asked what he thought." I said that last sentence mostly to myself; my way of remembering a mental note.

Mom was quiet for a few minutes, "Anything else happen?" She asked. She could tell that there was something I wasn't saying.

I sighed again, "I yelled at Julian, like really yelled. We were always on the border of enemies, but I think I crossed the border."

"Sorry," Mom said, then shrugged, "Honestly, the boy seems like his parents, so I can't blame you."

"Mom," I said as we pulled into the driveway, "Aren't you supposed to tell me to be nice to everyone?"

"Oh right," Mom said, "Be nice to everyone, including Julian."

I rolled my eyes as I got out of the car, "Thanks mom."

She smiled, "Anytime."

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"Carena," I asked my older sister that night before bed, since we shared a room, "Did you have any problems in 5th grade?"

"When I was I 5th grade-"

"It was only 2 years ago!"

She ignored me, "There was this one girl. We were friends for a year when I joined school, but then the next school year, she hated me. I had no idea why." Oh, right. I remember this. Jen Nakao. The girl spread rumors about Carena for a whole school year. Our parents talked to the teachers, especially the robotics teacher since they were both in robotics, but nothing happened.

"How did you resolve it?" I was only eight at the time and didn't care much about the world around me.

"Come to think of it, we didn't. We just stopped talking." She exhaled, "Maybe that was for the best. Of course, you should try to resolve any issues, but if the other person doesn't care to fix anything; why bother?"

Those sentences weighed on my mind heavily when I as I tried to sleep. I remembered that I told my mom that I would call Jack, but I could do that tomorrow. I attempted to find a way that I could fix things with Julian, but I couldn't come up with anything. Maybe it just wasn't possible to repair a broken more/less friendship.

 **Can someone please tell me how to make border lines? Don't forget to review to make the chapters come faster and better!**


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